Love In Strange Places..
by TraceAce
Summary: This story was written WAYY back when the Kurt-HHH-Steph angle was going on..one night, Jericho saves Steph from getting beaten for getting caught with Kurt..the action quickly pulls Jericho into it all. At first he's mad, but soon..
1. Caught!

Chapter 1  
  
"No, Kurt.."  
  
"Shh!"  
  
"We can't keep.."  
  
"SHH!" She went quiet, her eyes searching his. God she felt so guilty. She loved Hunter, god she did, but he..he was different.  
  
"This isn't very olympic, Kurt."  
  
"I don't think you said that last night babe." She thought back blissfully about the night before. Yes, she wasn't complaining all too much..but STILL!  
  
"I don't know if I can--" she was cut off by him kissing her, and she sighed, dazed.  
  
"Don't know if you can what, Steph?"  
  
"What if Hunter finds out..?"  
  
"Screw him then. Not literally, I mean.." She couldn't help but giggle. "He beats you anyway." He did have a point. "A man like that doesn't deserve your beautiful and wonderful body *and* mind."  
  
"You're such a sweet talker." she murmured, kissing him, obviously warming up to him again.  
  
If they only saw the person standing in the shadows, grinning with evil intent, watching the show in silent amusement before disappearing into the darkness.  
  
***  
  
"Where the fuck is she?" Hunter grumbled. Sean shrugged.  
  
"She said she was getting us water."  
  
"Well the fucking water table isn't that far away dumbass."  
  
"Well excuse me." Sean replied to his pissy friend. Suddenly a knock at the door sounded.  
  
"Come on in." Instead of Stephanie, Jericho came in. Hunter sprang up, his eyes blazing at the young Canadian man. "What do YOU want?"  
  
"Eh, got some piece of info that might interest you buddy."  
  
"I ain't your buddy, now spill it or leave."  
  
"Well, I happened to notice your wife and Kurt getting a little bit close to each other. Dunno if that's OK with you but.."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Heh, I thought you might wanna know..."  
  
"Where is she?" He explained the directions to him. "Now you stay with Sean so I know you're not up to something.." Chris shrugged and sat down. Hunter opened the door and ran out.  
  
"So you're really for real?"  
  
"No, I'm lying." Chris smirked. He waited a minute or two then stood up when Sean wasn't watching. He picked up a chair and smashed it against his head. The young man crumpled to the ground, and Chris left, whistling happily.  
  
***  
  
"What the FUCK are you doing?!"  
  
"HUNTER!"  
  
"You little slut.."  
  
"I'm so sorry.."  
  
"I bet you're sorry..get over here you little jackass.."  
  
"HUNTER NO!" Kurt scrambled away, leaving Stephanie alone to face Hunter. He loomed over her and grabbed her, pulling her up. By that time she had her clothing on.  
  
"I'm gonna make sure you don't ever do that again.." his voice was low and dangerous.  
  
Chris watched in horror as he beat her. He couldn't help but think how this was his fault. But then, she was a slut and sleeping around..but no one deserved it. Chris had morals and he knew it wasn't moral to beat women like slaves. All it took was one swift hit with a chair. He fell to the ground, Stephanie landing with him.  
  
"I'm gonna regret this..." he mumbled to himself, pulling her from him and lugging her up. "Man I can't wait to wake up from this nightmare.." He quickly ran off, into the darkness with her. Hunter got up, holding his head. He knew she was gone, but by god he was gonna make the bitch pay.  
  
***  
  
"Keep still." There was no ounce of caring in Chris's voice as he saw Stephanie stir. She looked at him fearfully and did what he asked. He carefully bandaged the huge scratch on her head. "There." He stood upright, looking down on her, his eyes void of emotion. "You can do whatever now. Go back to him, get killed, go to Kurt..I don't give a shit. I did my good deed."  
  
She sat up, her head throbbing. "Why did you help me?"  
  
"Because I'm the one who sent you to the wolves in the first place. I just never figured he hit you." He said, not even looking at her. "Now like I said..I helped you, and now you are free to get going.."  
  
"I know..I know you think I've been doing all the stuff to you voluntarily Chris.."  
  
"Oh, so you're not? Your evil twin is doing it?" he asked sarcastically.  
  
"He's been making me do it, Chris. I don't love him at all any more but he beats me until I decide to stay so I could get away from it.."  
  
"Why should I believe you?" his tone was flat and lifeless.  
  
"Why shouldn't you?"  
  
"Look at me you little bitch!" he blew up. He pulled his shirt up showing his bandaged ribs and then pointed to his equally bandaged head. "You and your boyfriend and his friends did this to me and now you expect me to believe you?"  
  
"I'm sorry. I don't know how to change it. But I know I can't..you've got to let me stay here, just for one night. That's all I ask." Chris looked at her, with her pleading face, and sighed.  
  
"I swear if this is one of your schemes I'll kill you myself. Now take the other bed. I'm going to sleep." he gruffly laid down on the other bed, switching the light off. Maybe in the morning he'd find out this was all some terrible dream brought upon him by something..maybe he was hammered on a drink or something.  
  
But Stephanie knew this was no dream..and she knew Hunter was going to be after her. She curled up under the covers and held back any tears that were threatening to spill out. What had she done? Why was she so stupid to go along with mauling Chris? She silently wondered if that moment she lost her final person she can trust in, as loud as he was.  
  
***  
  
Chris awoke, hearing soft crying. He sat up, his eyes moving to the bed next to him. She was crying, though she was muffling her tears as much as she could. God, Chris felt a twang of pity for her, but that didn't last long.  
  
"You only brought it on yourself. Maybe Shane will take you in." he suggested, not really caring however about what happened to her.  
  
"No..Chris Benoit..he's on Hunter's side. Everyone is. Either that or they hate me too."  
  
"Oh no, who'd ever hate you?"  
  
"Listen, I know you hate me but god can't you give me the benefit of the doubt?"  
  
"Where is there to doubt? You've attacked me numerous times and kicked me in the balls too many times to take."  
  
"After you put me in a lip lock in front of the whole nation.."  
  
"Yeah and that was an embarrassing scene. I wish I never did that. Who knows what nasty disease I could have." Chris knew he shouldn't have said that. Stephanie stood up to him, shoving him back into the bed.  
  
"So you think I'm just some slut that sleeps around, huh? Well let me bring you up to date. I was happily going to be married to Andrew, or Test last summer. Then, Hunter comes along and decides to drug me and marry me himself. This begins a nasty spiral into me turning my back on my dad, then joining and all. Then I met Kurt. Kurt was just like Andrew, sweet, funny, smart..I started liking him from the beginning and since I was married to an abusive husband I had to go around dating Kurt secretly. Now I found out he's an ass like the rest of them. So what was I supposed to do, Chris? Hunter has been controlling me since the day that lady signed my death warrant known as a marriage license. So before you go around calling people sluts I'd think about what they went through you jackass." Chris was speechless. "Now if you think I'm lying then you have one hell of a problem."  
  
"I--" Chris didn't know what to say. He had always thought..it was always as if..god, what she just said was a bombshell.  
  
"That's what I thought. You didn't know, did you?" he shook his head. "No one did, expect Sean, Jesse, and Hunter."  
  
"How do I know.." Stephanie responded by turning and raising her shirt. At first Chris was going to cry out in anger at her actions but he soon understood what she was doing. A huge bruise was seen on her backside. It was awful looking.  
  
"He did that to you..?" Chris asked, dumbfounded.  
  
"Well I didn't do it to myself." she rolled her shirt down and looked at him. "Do you understand now? Why I had to go along?"  
  
"I guess so. But.."  
  
"I don't expect you to like me Chris but you're the only one I can trust. Please..please help me." Chris studied her, and for some reason he just knew she was being sincere.  
  
"OK, fine...but just until you find someone else." Chris reluctantly agreed, standing up. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. He didn't hug back but sighed. He wasn't going to show any real emotion yet. "Just remember this is a complete business partnership and nothing else."  
  
"Right." she nodded. She extended a hand, and he looked at it, sighed, and shook it.  
  
"You've got yourself a deal Ms. McMahon." he purposely left the other part of her name out and he thought she looked glad he did.  
  
And Chris sighed, wondering if this wasn't the biggest mistake in his entire career. 


	2. A Wedding, A Bet, And An Attempted Assas...

Chapter 2  
  
"Now, what I want you to do is sit there and just stay there." Chris said, pointing to a chair in his locker room. "Touch and do nothing, got it?"  
  
"Yes sir." she nodded, doing what he told her to do without question. Chris perched near the door.  
  
"Hunter is irate, I can tell you that." A few knocks at the door sounded and Stephanie let out a soft whimper.  
  
"Oh my god..he's here.." Chris opened the door to Steph's shock but instead of her husband in walked Edge.  
  
"Glad you got here." Chris said.  
  
"I thought you were Chris Benoit's friend." she said to him.  
  
"Nah, I'm a spy." he said simply while Chris closed and locked the door.  
  
"Oh, that's good." Steph said, blinking.  
  
"What'd you find out?"  
  
"He's coming down here in five minutes, man. You've got to get her out of here. He's ready to kill." he said, seriously. "I have no clue what he has up his sleeves."  
  
"Shit!" he said. "Try to stall him." Edge nodded and Chris opened the door for him and he trotted out.  
  
"I'll do my best. Can't promise everything. Get out of here as fast as you can." Edge warned before running down the halls.  
  
"Stephanie, come on. We gotta get out of here." he said. Stephanie complied quickly and the two quickly made their way down the hallway. They got to the parking lot 3 minutes later. This is where Stephanie decided to trip and fall. Chris was behind her and he saw the car speeding toward her. She got up only to see it too.  
  
Chris knew if Hunter killed her it'd be end of problem. She'd be gone, Hunter would get jail time, and he wouldn't have to worry about it. But seeing there for that split second, frozen in fear, he sighed in defeat. Like lightning he pushed her out of the way, falling to the ground with her, rolling with her until they ended up under a truck.  
  
The car screeched away. Chris grabbed Stephanie and pulled her up. She was shaking like a leaf, her face white.  
  
"You saved me." she said, her voice quivering. Chris shrugged, picking her up.  
  
"Can you walk?" he questioned. She tried to walk but cried out in pain when she put pressure on her right ankle and began to fall. Chris caught her and pulled her up. They paused a second, an awkward silence between them, before Chris picked her up. "Hold on."  
  
He carried her to the car, hoping Hunter wasn't going to come back any time soon. Putting her in, he quickly hopped in himself, he quickly floored it, getting out of there quickly, quietly thanking Edge for obviously distracting him.  
  
***  
  
"Hold still!"  
  
"It hurts." she whimpered, watching him work on her leg. He turned it once and she cried out.  
  
"Look like it popped out." he said. Suddenly he hit it hard and she yelped, feeling her body going back into place. "There. I'll just bandage it up and you'll be all set."  
  
"Oww..oww!" she whined.  
  
"Don't be such a baby." he said, smirking.  
  
"I'm not being a baby." she pouted. He chuckled a bit.  
  
"Oh no, not at all huh?" he questioned. She paused then blinked.  
  
"OK, maybe just a little." she admitted.  
  
"Finished." he said. She looked to see her leg carefully bandaged.  
  
"You're good at that."  
  
"Yeah, when you're a wrestler as long as I have you learn a thing or two about bones and which need to go to the hospital and which do not." he shrugged modestly. "You need to rest that a few days."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome." he said simply.  
  
"No, really Chris." she said. "I don't know why you're still helping me, to tell you the truth, I was kinda figuring..I dunno, that you would have let me get hit."  
  
"I wouldn't ever do that to anyone." he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I was taught that if anyone needed help I had to help them."  
  
"I'm glad you were taught that then." she nodded. She looked at the clock. "Still early..why am I tired?"  
  
"You've have a rough day." Chris pointed out. "The stress I know you're going through isn't helping either."  
  
"Yeah, I suppose. I'm going to hit the sack. I do have a problem though."  
  
"Hm?" he questioned.  
  
"Well, you see, I was kinda hoping to change into a new pair of clothing since these are kinda..old. Can I um..borrow something of yours?" He looked at her.  
  
"My clothes?"  
  
"Well, you don't have too.."  
  
"Eh, I suppose I could give you something..I don't have anything for your size though."  
  
"I could imagine." she said, amused. He opened one of his bags and took out boxers and a shirt. He tossed them to her and she took them, getting up. She limped her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.  
  
***  
  
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED HER!" Hunter glowered.  
  
"I know, that was like TOTALLY wrong." Edge agreed fakely. God it was easy to trick this jackass.  
  
"Totally." Christian echoed Edge.  
  
"That reject Chris Jericho can't keep her away from me forever, though. I promise you that. I'm going to kill the slut."  
  
"YEAH! Killing is totally cool." Christian nodded.  
  
"Totally." Edge this time echoed before Hunter stomped out of their locker room and slammed their door.  
  
"Man, this ain't good." Edge said to his brother.  
  
"Not at all. Hunter's serious." Christian pointed out. "Too serious. Why's Chris helping the slut anyway?"  
  
"He wants to jump her bones probably." Edge snickered. "Doesn't wanna admit it though, with them being enemies. But you can totally see it."  
  
"Really? Heh, that's strange."  
  
"Stranger things has happened. But did you see that kiss at King Of The Ring? They were both into it, even if Stephanie won't admit it. Jericho really won't seriously admit it either." Edge explained.  
  
"Yeah, I saw it too. Steph was shocked is all. If Chris did that with notice she would have been all over him. Funny shit." Christian said. "How long do you think it'll take?"  
  
"I'll give it a week." he said, grinning.  
  
"You think he'll last that long?"  
  
"Yeah, he's kinda stubborn." The door opened and the two Canadians looked toward it to see Jeff walking in.  
  
"Ah, Jeff, my man, what's up?" Christian questioned. He handed a letter to Edge.  
  
"I can't explain it, just look at it." Edge blinked, opening it up. He read and his mouth dropped.  
  
"RIKISHI'S GETTING MARRIED?!" Edge said.  
  
"Say WHAT!?" Christian blinked.  
  
"I dunno how he did it but the wedding is in 3 days, man." Edge snapped out of the mind-numbing shock and suddenly began thinking.  
  
"Hm, is Chris Jericho getting invited?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, of course." Jeff nodded.  
  
"And is DX coming?" he pushed.  
  
"Nope, no way." Edge turned to his brother.  
  
"Hey C, remember what I told you about that week?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Well, let me change that..to 3 days."  
  
"Totally." Christian said, a sly grin on his face. Jeff looked at the two.  
  
"You guys are so weird." Jeff smirked, before walking out.  
  
***  
  
"Hey Chris?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You wouldn't happen to have um..pins?" Chris blinked.  
  
"Uhh..no, why?" She walked out, and Chris had to hold back a grin.  
  
"Um, the sleeve.." Stephanie looked at her right shoulder to see it totally exposed, her bra strap showing. She quickly pulled the sleeve up, embarrassed.  
  
"You see my point?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess I do." he said, a small smile appearing on his face.  
  
"Is that a smile I see, Chris? That's a first." she said pointedly.  
  
"I've smiled at you before." Chris said, quickly making the traces of the smile disappear quickly.  
  
"Yeah, when you were about to go after me." she said, smirking.  
  
"It was still a smile." he said.  
  
"You're trying not to show any emotion with me, right?" she questioned. "But I know you want too. Listen, I'll tell you right now..you're the only friend I have. Hell you've been the only friend I've had since high school."  
  
"You've had other friends...what about Andrew?"  
  
"I liked him, but to tell you the truth, I still barely know anything about him outside wrestling." she shrugged, sitting down, resting her foot. "I didn't even really wanna marry him, my mom was pushing me."  
  
"So I guess all is not well in the life of a princess." Chris snickered.  
  
"That's why princesses only exist in fairy tales." she sighed. "But you're the only one who treats me like a human being..well, OK, so you're not exactly very nice to me, but atleast you talk to me more like a normal person and less like the daughter of Mr. McMahon."  
  
"Status never impressed me."  
  
"I could tell." she said, and was surprised to get a soft laugh out of him. "You've told off almost everyone, haven't you?"  
  
"I suppose I have. It's because they deserve it." he said, regaining his usual emotionless status.  
  
"I'm sure they do." She smiled, going under the covers.  
  
"Going to bed?"  
  
"Yep. G'night." she said. Chris paused, then smiled slightly.  
  
"Goodnight, Steph." he said.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Chris knew she was asleep, and looking at the clock, he knew he had to do his nightly check up. Walking into the bathroom, he didn't bother closing the door, as she was asleep and he wasn't doing anything that needed the door to be closed.  
  
Pulling off his shirt, he slowly unraveled his bandages, showing his black and blue spots that dotted his ribs. They looked awful, and he noted a new one that was probably from him landing when he saved Stephanie.  
  
"Digusting.." he sighed to himself.  
  
"They aren't that bad." Chris jumped, whirling around and pointing a deadly um..bandage at the one talking. Stephanie couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Don't shoot!" she teased. He looked at the bandage and blushed, putting his head down.  
  
"What are you doing up?" he questioned.  
  
"I saw a light and I wanted to make sure everything was OK." she said, leaning against the door frame.  
  
"Oh, yeah, everything's OK. I had to check to make sure they were healing." he explained, beginning to wrap them again. She noted him wince with every turn of his back as he worked on wrapping them up.  
  
"Here, let me." she said. He looked at her quizzically. She took the bandage and wrapped it carefully around his waist.  
  
"Got a clip to hold it?" it looked like he snapped out of a daze.  
  
"Yeah..um..here." he gave it to her and she clipped it against his side.  
  
"There you go." she smiled. "Just returning the favor."  
  
"Thanks." he said, and found when he gazed at her his eyes locked with hers. He broke it quickly, feeling a blush coming on, and he didn't want that to happen. "Anyway, you should um..go rest your..foot."  
  
"Alright. You go to sleep too. You don't look so well." she said, walking away.  
  
Chris looked himself in the mirror, then sighed.  
  
"This can't be happening.." he mumbled, wishing his reflection could tell him he was totally right, that it was impossible. To tell him it was the medicine fogging up his head. As he shut off the light in the bathroom, he shut the idea out of his head. It WAS impossible. He just had to repeat that in his head..just over and over.. 


	3. Feelings Confirmed And A Kidnapping..

Chapter 3  
  
"What?" he questioned Brian, or Grandmasta Sexay as he was called, looking confused.  
  
"Mah man Rikishi's gettin' married, you're invited." he nodded.  
  
"Umm..Alright then." he blinked.  
  
"C-ya!" Brian walked away, and Chris blinked again.  
  
"God, I'm surrounded by weird, weird, people." he muttered, shutting the door and looking at the invitation. It was morning, around 8:30 am. He moved to Stephanie, and couldn't help but stare at her still form. He snapped out of it quickly, poking her lightly.  
  
"Hey, wake up."  
  
"Hum..?" she muttered, opening her eyes after the 5th poke. She yawned and pulled the covers over her head.  
  
"Ooh no you don't, get up." he pulled the blanket off her and she groaned, sitting up.  
  
"Meanie." she yawned.  
  
"I've got to get you clothes that fit you." Chris said. He thought a moment. "I know, you stay right here, don't go out or anything."  
  
"Um, OK." she nodded, lying down.  
  
"DON'T go back to sleep either." he said as he walked away. She tossed a pillow at him and it hit, and as he left the room, he could hear faint laughter.  
  
Walking down the hall, he knocked on a door. He knew she'd be up, she was always up early. The door opened and she came out, smiling.  
  
"Chris Jericho, to what do I owe the honor so early in the morning? I thought your daily annoyance schedule doesn't have me in 'till later." she teased.  
  
"Up early, just like usual. You'll never change, will ya Lita?" he asked.  
  
"I'll change when you cross dress." she smiled.  
  
"Speaking of clothing, can I borrow yours?" Lita looked at him like he was nuts.  
  
"OK, Time to start waking up at 10..Chris, I'm sorry, I don't think my stuff would fit on you.." she trailed off.  
  
"It's not for me, Lita." he smirked. "It's for Stephanie.."  
  
"McMahon?" Chris nodded. "Don't you hate her?"  
  
"I thought I did.." he trailed off. Lita studied him, leaning lazily against the door frame.  
  
"You like her, don'tcha?"  
  
"No!" She smiled at him.  
  
"Right, Chris. Here, come on in, I'll get you some clothes." she said, walking inside her room, Chris following. Jeff was in the room, drying his rainbow colored hair.  
  
"Hey, Chris." Jeff said, without looking up.  
  
"Hey." he replied.  
  
"Chris is borrowing some of my clothes." Jeff looked up then, and smirked.  
  
"I never knew you were like that, Chrissy." he chuckled.  
  
"It's for Stephanie."  
  
"Ah, so you finally fucked her. Good job."  
  
"I didn't fuck her--"  
  
"Heh, waiting?"  
  
"I don't even--"  
  
"Chris, yes you do. Trust me." Chris rolled his eyes and took the clothes handed to him.  
  
"Thanks, Lita."  
  
"Don't ruin them." she warned. Chris nodded and quickly walked out of the room.  
  
Entering his own room, he tossed the clothes on her bed. "All yours." She looked at the clothes.  
  
"What, did you steal them from a room?" she questioned.  
  
"I have connections." he said simply. "Get dressed." she shrugged, picking out clothes and walking into the bathroom. Chris took out the invite and read it over again.  
  
"Rikishi's getting married, huh?" he said. "I wonder who the lucky lady is.." As mean as it was, it was kinda true. Rikishi wasn't the um..greatest guy.  
  
"What's that?" Chris looked up to see Stephanie. His mouth dropped, seeing her in Lita's usual clothing, which looked well..great on Steph. "I really don't have the figure for this stuff.."  
  
"Yes you do." he blurted, and silently cursed himself. She grinned.  
  
"Well thank you Chris." she smiled, and Chris felt like melting into the ground and staying there. "So, what's that?"  
  
"A wedding invitation." he gave it to her and she tried not to laugh.  
  
"You've got to be kidding me." she giggled.  
  
"Nope, and you're coming with me." he nodded. She looked at him.  
  
"Hate to tell you this, but there's only one name, and it's yours."  
  
"I can invite one person to join me, it says so on the thing." He grinned. "I was hoping you'd come with me. For uh..protection reasons."  
  
"For protection reasons, right. Sure, I'll come along. I need a dress though." Chris motioned to the pile again. "Lita gave me one. I suppose she expected me to bring you along for some reason."  
  
"Well, then I guess I have to go, huh?" she smiled. Oh yes, this was a very dumb idea..then again, wasn't Chris making an awful lot of those kind of ideas anyway?  
  
***  
  
"Hah, check this out Hunter.." X-Pac said, grinning. He handed him an invitation. "Found it in the trash." Hunter looked at it and saw it addressed to Steve Blackman. He read it over, then grinned.  
  
"Jericho is probably gonna make an appearance, I bet." X nodded.  
  
"With Stephanie..." Hunter muttered.  
  
"Most likely, man."  
  
"You thinkin' what I'm thinking?"  
  
"Am I?"  
  
"It's time to crash this party." he chuckled. "X, we gonna have some fun in 2 days."  
  
"Alright!" he grinned.  
  
"We'll see who wins this time Jericho.." Hunter mumbled under his breath.  
  
***  
  
"Does this look OK?" she questioned, showing him the dress.  
  
"For the billionth time, you look fine. We're gonna be late, hun." he said, yawning.  
  
"Fine, fine. Come on." she said, noting his impatience. Chris got to his feet, grinning.  
  
"Great. Let's get a move on." Chris scanned his mind for gentlemen like actions. He extended his arm and Steph grinned and took it.  
  
"Gonna get noble on me?"  
  
"I plan on it." he said, opening the door.  
  
"Well, don't be too uptight. I don't want to look like I'm going anywhere with a snob." she giggled. He smirked, though he wanted to comment..he didn't.  
  
***  
  
"Look, look!" Edge hissed, nudging Christian. Christian snapped awake, blinking.  
  
"Is the marrying done already?" he mumbled. Edge rolled his eyes and turned his brother's head to make him look at Chris and Stephanie, who were walking in.  
  
"Isn't that--" Christian said before being muffled by Edge.  
  
"Shut up man, we can't look like we're staring." he berated his brother before letting go of his mouth.  
  
"Sorry. But..you seriously think..?"  
  
"Look for yourself." Christian watched their movements, then grinned.  
  
"Oh yeah, it's almost painfully obvious."  
  
"What is?" The two turned to see Matt, sitting behind them.  
  
"Ah, yanno, the two love birds over there." Edge nodded.  
  
"They finally got together?"  
  
"Nah, but you can tell it'll happen..soon. Very soon." Christian said, grinning.  
  
"Heh, surprised it hasn't happened yet is all." Matt nodded.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The wedding actually went through and the lady married Rikishi, which quietly surprised Chris. Who'd know the girl actually liked him? As mean as that was, it was true.  
  
They were all brought to some hall, which was pretty fancy. Chris had a bad feeling though, and he didn't understand why. Shaking it off, like he should, he smiled a little when Steph took his hand and led him to talk to Edge and Christian, as they were waving him over and he hadn't even noticed.  
  
"Lookin' sharp there, Chris." Christian commented.  
  
"And wowsa, never saw ya shine so much Steph. The dress is great on you." Edge added, helpfully.  
  
"Thanks." Stephanie said, smiling. "You're not so bad yourself." Edge flashed her his infamous Cheshire cat smile.  
  
"So he's not here?" Chris asked, cautiously.  
  
"Not a sign of the guy. Looks like you have a free evening of fun, dancing, and drinking wine. Haha, endulge, Chrissy. I mean, this stuff is FREE!" Edge chuckled.  
  
"Uh..I think you had enough of this, Edge.." Christian plucked the wine out of his hand. "Let's have a seat, OK?" Edge nodded, obviously a bit drunk. "C-ya you guys."  
  
"Well that was interesting." Stephanie blinked. Chris nodded.  
  
"Shall we find a seat?" Stephanie pointed to the table where Lita, Matt, and Jeff were sitting. "That place OK?" Chris shrugged and the two walked over.  
  
"Ah, Chris, so nice to see ya. You actually could look like a gentleman." Lita giggled.  
  
"And you could pass for a normal woman." he shot back teasingly.  
  
"Hey, hey, do I have to break you two up?" Matt said, with a fake tone of firmness.  
  
"She started it." Chris pouted. Lita stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"Why don't you guys join us?" Jeff questioned. They pulled up two chairs and sat down.  
  
"Great, now I gotta see you while I'm eating." Lita said. Oh, this girl was too much. She was one person that matched Jericho's wit.  
  
"And the sight of you is any better?" he replied, grinning.  
  
"I love ya too, babe." Lita giggled. That's how it always ended. They fought back and forth until they felt like dropping it.  
  
"So what are they serving in this place, eh?" Jeff questioned. "I'm hungry."  
  
"You're always hungry man." Matt smirked. Jeff shrugged.  
  
The waiter came and got the order. It took 20 minutes for the food to come out, they ate. It was OK as food went.  
  
But when the music began, Chris suddenly found himself nervous. He himself was really only decent at slow dancing, but slow dancing meant dancing with a girl. And Chris had kinda brought a girl, and that girl was Stephanie. When a real slow dance song did go on, Chris felt his heart leap into his throat. He watched as Matt took Lita out to dance on the floor while Jeff escorted Jackie, who was one of his friends. Chris sighed to himself, thinking all he had to do is stay calm and collected. Calm. Collected. Ca--  
  
"Chris?"  
  
"Huh?!" Chris jumped. So much for calm and collected. "Oh, I mean, yes?"  
  
"Wanna um..dance?" she questioned. Chris smiled as best as he could, and nodded.  
  
"Uh..sure! Come on." he took her hand, which was actually a first. He led her to the dance floor, and was slightly hesitant. She made the first move, wrapping her arms around his neck. He loosened up a bit and let his arms go around her thin waist. They began dancing, slowly, to the beat of the song.  
  
"Awkward, isn't it?" she questioned lowly. Chris shrugged lightly. "It's weird.."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"I thought you were a jackass before..but now..I'm beginning to think I'm wrong." Stephanie smiled.  
  
"Um..thanks..I think." he blinked. Silence. "You're an OK dancer.."  
  
"Was that a compliment or am I not sensing your sarcastic tone?" she questioned suspiously.  
  
"It was a compliment." he nodded. "I don't feel very sarcastic now. Think I let it out when me and Lita were doing battle."  
  
"You guys are one odd pairing of friends." Stephanie giggled.  
  
"She's a great girl. Loyal as hell, one of my best friends even." he shrugged. "But she does have that quirk of trying to beat my incredible wit and ending up failing too."  
  
"I dunno, looked to me like she beat you a few times tonight."  
  
"I LET her beat me." he corrected.  
  
"Right." she grinned, nodding. After the song, she excused herself to the bathroom, and Chris sat down.  
  
The feeling of foreboding hit him again. Something was wrong, he just knew it. After 5 minutes, he stood and moved out into the hallways.  
  
"Chris! Help!"  
  
He turned his head to see X-Pac dragging her away.  
  
"Let her go you fuckhead!" Chris shouted. He held a knife to her throat.  
"Come closer and I'll fuck this bitch up. Hunter won't mind." X-Pac snickered. Chris couldn't do a thing but helplessly watch him drag her out. "You try to follow me and I swear this slut's gonna be headless in a second. We'll tell ya how she's doin' tomorrow, just coz we're nice. You'll know when you get it, fucker."  
  
And he left, and Chris was shaking.  
  
"Chris! What's wrong!?" Chris looked dumbly at Lita, who was looking at him in shock.  
  
"Hunter got her, Lita. I couldn't do a fucking thing. Pac had a knife to her throat." he said.  
  
"Shit." Lita said, moving to her friend. "She'll be OK, Chris. We'll get her back, and Matt and Jeff and Edge when he wakes up and Christian..they'll help us."  
  
"I fuckin' failed her, Lita.." he said. "I promised I'd protect her. I knew something was wrong and I didn't act on it." Lita slapped him in the face.  
  
"Oww! What the hell was that for?!"  
  
"You were going nuts. Now calm down!" she berated him. Chris didn't want to calm down though..he fucked up and now Hunter had her. The part that was killing him the most..the part that even scared him...he actually gave a shit about Steph's well being. He was terrified at the thought of what Hunter could do to her.  
  
And then he realized it. It hit him hard and fast. Every feeling he was literally tucking away deeply into his brain bubbled up into a flood of worried tears. Every ounce of him felt drained. It had to be the worst moment in his life; knowing he might never see her again and knowing he might never get to tell her what he knew all along but hid because his ego wouldn't allow it.  
  
He loved her. 


	4. Escape, And..ANOTHER KIDNAPPING?! Yeesh....

Chapter 4  
  
She kicked him, hard. Right where it hurt. X-Pac let her go and she ran into the woods. God, how did she get into this mess? She kept running, scared out of her mind, tripping over unseen branches. She was still in her dress, and it didn't help too much. Suddenly she found herself falling, landing horribly on her ankle.  
  
She cried out in pain, and flinched as she tried to move it. Oh yes, it was broken. The worst part was it had begun to rain. She saw she was near a cliff, though, and she dragged herself to be under it.  
  
She then promptly collapsed, wondering if running from X-Pac when they reached the deserted old gas station was wise. Now she had wild animals to worry about. She tried to move her leg one more time and found the pain so intense she fainted from it. As she slept, the rain fell, drenching all around her.  
  
***  
  
She awoke in a strange home. Blinking slightly, she sat up, seeing her leg now having a cast on it.  
  
"You're awake, good." She looked at the man coming out. He was pretty tall, kinda built but slim. He had a mushroom cut haircut, with his hair being sorta a dirty blondish color. He also had really really blue eyes, calm, collected. But for some reason, as cute as the guy in front of her was, all she could think of was Chris.  
  
"Who are you?" she questioned, brushing away the thought of Chris for a moment.  
  
"Name's Nathan Allo, call me Nat. My mom used to 'coz she said I was annoying just like the gnat bugs."  
  
"OK, Nat." she said.  
  
"And you are?"  
  
"Stephanie, Stephanie McMahon. Where are we?"  
  
"In my house. Me an' my wife found you outside when we went for a walk. Luckily, I'm a doctor so I fixed your leg up real nice. Ya broke it, yanno."  
  
"Oh. Thank you." she said.  
  
"Now, mind telling me why you were outside asleep this morning?"  
  
"Well, I was kinda..um..kidnapped."  
  
"Kidnapped?!"  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"Well start talking."  
  
"OK, you see, my husband was pretty much about to kill me because I was sorta cheating on him. I mean, god, I wanted to divorce months ago but he threatened to kill me so I went around behind his back. Anyway, this guy, Chris, whom I hated for a long while suddenly appeared and came to my rescue. He let me stay with him and all, then he promised to protect me after I pleaded him to." she paused. "I went to a wedding a few days after, and when I went out of the bathroom I was jumped by Hunter's right hand man. We stopped somewhere and I just kicked him in the balls and ran into the woods. It was dark and I didn't see the ledge."  
  
"That's quite a story." he nodded, then studied her. "That Chris fella, you like him?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well, I minored in psychology and all, and your actions are telling me you have a eh..thing for him."  
  
"We fight too much."  
  
"Let me tell you a story about a couple I know..ya see, these two went at it like rabid animals for 10 years before they suddenly understood, why, the fighting was actually not about hatred but some odd kind of, dare I say, mating ritual. Really odd. But they say the ones that fight the most care about each other the most." She sat there, thinking.  
  
"Those two people..they were..you and your wife, weren't they?" she asked cautiously. He smiled.  
  
"10 years wasted on bickering. Think about it." He stood up, about to leave.  
  
"What happens if he doesn't like me back?" she asked, making him turn. He smiled kindly.  
  
"Well, miss, he saved you, made sure you were OK, and took you to a wedding, am I right?" she nodded. "Trust me, he has something for you." The doorbell rang.  
  
"Oh, I'll get that.." he walked away, a secret grin on his face.  
  
***  
  
"You found her?!" Chris gasped.  
  
"Yes. I noticed a number on the dress that obviously belonged to Lita. Me and my wife found her lying on the ground, her ankle broken this morning. We brought her in. She's now sleeping peacefully, and my wife put some new clothes on her so she doesn't get sick."  
  
"What's your address?" The man gave it to him, and Chris scribbled it down quickly. "Thank you, very much."  
  
"You're welcome. I'll be home all day. Goodbye." They both hung up and Chris grinned at Lita, giving her cell back.  
  
"Guess I'm not weird for putting my number on my stuff, huh Chris?" He didn't say anything back but hugged her. She looked at him. "And, I'd tell her."  
  
"Tell her what?"  
  
"That you love her, because, even if you don't admit it to me, I see it. Us girls know that look. We live off it." she smiled. "Don't mess it up because of your ego."  
  
"Fine, fine." he nodded.  
  
"Good. Now go, get her back in one peice." she shooed him off and sighed, smirking.  
"You're gonna give me a heart attack one day." she said under her breath before walking away.  
  
***  
  
Nat opened the door to find Chris standing there, looking a bit worried.  
  
"Mr. Jericho, I presume?" Chris nodded. "She's awake and in the living room." he nodded and walked by the man, going into the room the man pointed to. She was there, resting on the couch, her head turned away from him. Chris couldn't comprehend how happy he was to see her, alive, away from Hunter.  
  
"Steph.." he managed to utter. Stephanie blinked, slowly turning her head.  
  
"Chris? Oh god, I'm cracking up..the fall must be making me hallucinate--" Chris knew she wasn't kidding. He quickly took her hand, and squeezed it.  
  
"You ain't hallucinating." he grinned. "Aw Steph, don't ever do this to me again. I need my beauty rest and you being taken by psychos really interfered with it."  
  
"You didn't sleep?"  
  
"For 5 minutes, I think. Steph, you look awful. How'd you get away?"  
  
"It's a long story." she shook her head.  
  
"Well, let's go back to the hotel, OK hun?" she nodded. Nat came in, looking at the two.  
  
"Oh, by the way Steph, before you leave, you are to get the cast taken off in 4 weeks god willing. Any doctor will do it with this." he handed her a slip and she put it in her pocket.  
  
"Thanks, Nat." he nodded and smiled. "When my wife broke her leg she had crutches. You can have 'um now." Chris helped her to her feet and she leaned on the crutches for support. It was the perfect fit.  
  
"Come on." Chris said, helping her maneuver her way to the doorway. They walked (or limped) down the walkway soon afterwards.  
  
"STEPH!" Stephanie turned to see Nat. "Remember, 10 years." she looked at him for a moment and nodded. She got into the car, remembering everything that happened and silently wondering if she should tell him.  
  
***  
  
She watched him, carefully trying to make her comfortable. It was odd, almost comforting. She was beginning to realize it, too, how much he really did mean to her. No one had ever been so caring to her, no one. She wasn't even used to it in ways.  
  
"I'm sorry I brought you into this, Chris." she mumbled, feeling sleepy.  
  
"Don't apologize." he shook his head. She smiled wistfully and was soon asleep.  
  
Chris then stood, looking at the bruised Steph and his eyes narrowed. He was going to get Hunter for doing this. He walked to his door and noticed a note by his foot. He picked it up and opened it. Scanning over it, his mouth dropped.  
  
"Lita.." he opened the door, making sure to close it behind him because it locked automatically and he had the key. He knocked on the door to his friend's door. No answer. He pushed on the door to see it not closed all the way. Going into the room, he knew something happened. Things were scattered everywhere. He walked in more to find both brothers tied and gagged. "Oh shit.."  
  
"Mmgmgm!" Jeff cried out angrily. Chris untied his gag. "That son of a bitch took her!" Chris quickly undid them both, and both were pretty mad.  
  
"They fuckin' jumped us. Who the hell knows how they got in. They kicked our ass then took her, telling us that she'd live if..if you met up with him in the alley tonight. Alone." Matt said.  
  
"Then he'll get me. Alone." he nodded.  
  
"Chris, that's suicide."   
  
"Yeah. You'll be killed. They'll all jump you."  
  
"Well there really isn't a choice now is there? I'm Lita's only hope and suicide mission or not, she's one of the best god damn friends I got and if I die it'll be worth it because I know atleast I tried." he said, a tone of anger in his voice. "I'm not letting Hunter get the satisfaction of knowing I was too scared to help her, because I'm not." The brothers looked at him, surprised at his passion-filled speech, which was obviously made from the anger boiling inside him.  
  
"Then all I can say is good luck, Chris." Matt nodded. Chris smiled, turned, and left.  
  
"Matt, do you think he's gonna make it?" Jeff asked as he picked up their loose items.  
  
"I hope so, Jeff. I hope so." Matt replied to Jeff question's, quietly. 


	5. Two Enemies Kissin'? They Ain't Enemies ...

Chapter 5  
  
"Where are you going, Chris?" Stephanie asked. He looked up, surprised she was up. She was pretty much in and out of awareness the whole day. He smiled half-heartedly, knowing he would have to lie.  
  
"Oh, just on an errand. Christian's gonna watch you, OK?" she smiled and nodded. Poor naive girl. If only she knew Chris was walking out to face Hunter in an alleyway. If she only knew Lita had been captured.  
  
But she didn't know.  
  
And Chris wasn't going to tell her. But he did have to tell her one thing..  
  
"Hey Steph?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Steph..I just want you to know..well, I'm really glad you're OK. I've never been worried about anyone in my entire life. I don't think I should go into the protection agency any more, because I keep losing sleep." he said, watching her. She smiled, lightly.  
  
"I'm sorry I worried you." she said, softly.  
  
"Don't be. I don't know, it felt..good to worry about someone else besides myself. I'm usually alone so that's all I think about. It makes me feel..better. More like I actually do care about other people unlike what everyone says, because all I know was that every thought I had last night was about you, and if you were OK."   
  
"Do you really mean that?"  
  
"Yeah, I do."  
  
Christian suddenly walked in, and Chris felt like cursing him for coming at such a time where he was so close to telling her..so close..  
  
"Hey man."  
  
"Thanks for coming." Chris said calmly, nodding in return.  
  
"No problem. I'll make sure she's taken care of." he promised. "Good luck out there, today."  
  
"Good luck?" Stephanie asked, confused. Christian made a 'oops' face when he realized Chris didn't tell her.  
  
"Yeah, good luck finding the..item Chris is out to get." he covered quickly, and Chris gave him a secret grin.  
  
"Yeah. I'll see you later, Steph."  
  
"Bye." Chris hesitated, then turned and walked out of the room.  
  
***  
"So what's Chris looking for?"  
  
"Umm..heh, good..question. He's looking for.." Christian looked all around the room, then spotted Stephanie's necklace. "A special necklace. For his mom."  
  
"That's sweet." she smiled. Christian grinned proudly.  
  
"Hey Christian!" Edge swaggered in, grinning. "Did Chris get his ass kicked yet?" Stephanie blinked while Christian shook his head. Edge looked at Stephanie.  
  
"Er..whoops."  
  
"You two have explaining to do and you're going to do it right now." she said, sitting up.  
  
"Well you see, Steph, Chris went downstairs to the alley and he's going to fight Hunter to get er..Lita back.."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Chris didn't want to upset you so he did--"  
  
"I'm going after him--"  
  
"You can't!" Christian protested as Stephanie grabbed her crutches and began to limp out.  
  
"Watch me." Stephanie turned around to see Christian advancing. "You're my friend and all, but take one step closer and this crutch is going to be embedded in your head." He hesitated. "That's what I thought." She made her way out and neither men were going to try her because she had a very bad weapon and they didn't.  
  
She didn't get far.  
  
***  
  
"Hunter? Hunter, where the fuck are you?" Chris cried out, pushing some trash cans out of the way.  
  
"You came, wow, I didn't think you had the balls." Chris squinted, seeing the faint outline of Hunter.  
  
"Where's Lita?"  
  
"Lita? Lita who?" he paused. "Oh, this one?" he emerged from the shadows, his arm around Lita's throat, a knife in his hand. "This trashbag hoe's life means nothing to me." he grinned evilly, throwing her battered but alive body down, along with the knife that barely missed peircing her. "If you didn't get involved, she wouldn't be like that."  
  
Chris tried hard not to attack him right there. Kill him. He had to stay cool about this.  
  
"Oh man, you're going to fucking pay for all the pain you caused her..you caused Steph.." he glared at him as Hunter smiled.  
  
"Steph, ah yes, how is the little princess? I sure hope X-Pac and Dogg don't hurt her that much." Chris's eyes widened. "You're so stupid and gullible, Jericho. Even I would have known this was a trap. And now you have a choice..save her.." he motioned to Lita. "Or save Stephanie. Either way, one of the bitches are going to die."  
  
And at that point, Lita came to life, grabbing the knife and plunging it into Hunter's leg. Chris silently thanked god and quickly speared Hunter, punching him hard until he was out, his blood spilling out onto the ground. He was still alive, and Chris wasn't going to kill him, because that would be wrong even after what Hunter did.  
  
Chris quickly ran to Lita and helped her up. She could barely stand.  
  
"Get on my back." he said.  
  
"Chris.."  
  
"Hurry up!" Lita sighed, getting on, and Chris quickly got out the alleyway, giving Lita a piggy-back ride.  
  
***  
  
"Oh shit.."  
  
"Ha ha, nice to see you again too Steph. May I just say that kick to my gentials hurt, and because of this, I'm going to make sure what I'm about to do hurt even more." X-Pac grinned, Edge and Christian tried to help her but found themselves getting an eye full of pepper spray. They fell to the ground. Great help they were.  
  
Stephanie backed away, gulping as the two men advanced. Not good. Not good at all.  
  
"HIII--YAAHH!" suddenly Road Dogg, who was behind X, crumpled to the ground. In back of him stood Matt, a broomstick in his hand. X-Pac smirked, unafraid.  
  
"Psh, too afraid to fight hand to hand punk?" Matt dropped the stick, which was a big mistake when X pulled out the spray and got him too. Matt fell to the ground, wincing in pain.  
  
X just turned around and kept advancing. Someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around to find a fist flying at him. It crashed into his face. He staggered back but stood his ground. Jeff stood there, smirking. X took out the pepper spray but found it knocked out of his hands by a kick from Jeff.  
  
"I might not be a black belt but atleast I know how to fight fair." he said. "Come on, bring it on." They went at it like wolves.  
  
Jeff kept punching as hard as he could, damaging X's face badly as it smashed into it. But X-Pac, never the one to give up easily, quickly kicked him off and procedded to punch back with ease, his quickness too amazing for Jeff to keep up with.  
  
In the end Jeff was lying there, bloodied. He was alive, but he wasn't concious. And X-Pac finally reached her. He leaned her against the railing of the balcony, smiling evilly.  
  
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you down right now you little bitch." She took as deep a breath as possible and spit in his face.  
  
"I fucking dare you to kill me. You can join your buddies in hell when Chris gets to you."  
  
X-Pac growled, already pushing her off more. Chris suddenly struck, pulling X-Pac off her. But the sudden attack made X-Pac push her once more, and she flew off the balcony.  
  
"NO!" Chris cried out, seeing her flip over it. He had no time to react to her falling before X-Pac came charging at him. He stepped aside and for once X's speed failed him as he flew over the balcony guards and fell to his doom.  
  
***  
  
Chris quickly ran to the place Stephanie fell and saw nothing. It was too dark, but no one could have survived it. Chris sank downs, feeling tears splash down his face to the ground.  
  
"No.." he whispered. He felt an arm on his shoulder and saw Lita standing there, concerned.  
  
"I'm so sorry Chris..this is all my fault..if I hadn't..if you hadn't..she would have been able to.." she couldn't even finish her sentance. "Dogg is gone. He ran off."  
  
"I never got to tell her I loved her, Lita..she never knew.." he stood up, only to be hugged by Lita.  
  
"She knew, us girls know these things." she smiled. He mustered up a small smile back, but it was replaced by more tears.  
  
A knock at the door sounded and Chris walked over, trying no to cry any longer. He had to report this all to the police soon, hell, it could have been them now. He opened it to see Rikishi.  
  
"This yours?" he grumbled. Chris almost fainted as he saw Stephanie lying, alive, in his arms. "I found her hanging onto my balcony. Thought you might want her back. She kinda fainted or something though." he handed her over and walked away, still annoyed.  
  
If Chris wasn't holding her, he would have fainted right then and there. He put her on a bed and shook her lightly. She twitched. He shook her again. She yawned, slowly opening her eyes. At that moment Lita smiled, sneaking out, Dragging both Matt and Jeff along with her, because they were now alive enough to move. Edge and Christian had already retreated to safer grounds.  
  
"Is it morning already?" she mumbled, grinning. Chris gave her the hugest hug imaginable. "Oww! Oww! Chris, watch the foot, watch the ribs!" she groaned.  
  
"You're alive! I can't believe you're alive! I thought I lost you.."  
  
"Well you're going to lose me if you keep hurting my ribs." she said.  
  
"But how did you..?"  
  
"Simply gripped the nearest thing around. I'm lucky Rikishi's so big. He just picked me up and I fainted from shock. Heh, pretty cool, huh? I guess X-Pac's gone. I saw him fall. He wasn't so lucky."  
  
"Don't you ever freak me out like that again young lady." he said, suddenly stern. "God, I come in, go after X, and I see you fall. I almost had a heart attack." She studied his face and noticed tear stains. she followed one of the trails with a finger.  
  
"You've been crying."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why? Over me?"  
  
"I think so, as weird as that sound." he paused. "What's weirder is that it doesn't sound weird to me at all."  
  
"You make no sense sometimes." she giggled. He shrugged, smiling.  
  
"It's worked for years, I ain't gonna stop now." he replied.  
  
"I can tell." she smiled. Chris realized how close he was and quickly scooted over, a bit embarrassed. Stephanie blinked, easily sitting beside him.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked. "You never voice your feelings, Chris. It's like you alienate everyone sometimes."  
  
"I'm just thinking." he said, shifting uncomfortably.  
  
"About what?" she pressed. He paused. God, why couldn't he just blurt it out?  
  
"Well, if I tell you, you've got to promise not to say anything until I finish, alright?" he asked, carefully. She nodded. "OK, uh..god, how do I begin? Steph, when I helped you the first time, I was angry with myself. I didn't want you around, especially after what you did to me. After you made that huge speech I still didn't trust you, but I just knew I had to atleast help you out, because that's how I was raised. When I saw the car coming at you, I can't not admit I thought about letting you get hit by it, but when I saw you I just..couldn't." he sighed. This was such a long speech for three words.   
  
"I have no idea when I started warming up to you, but I know I did. It was especially so when I saw you in that dress. I was stunned. I guess it was because I just never looked at you in any way besides the fact that you were some hated enemy. But the real turning point of this whole speech was when you were taken, and I just saw you and I knew I couldn't do a thing. That was the exact moment..I just knew. I knew I had something for you, because all I thought of was your safety. Nothing else. I didn't care if he stabbed me, all I knew was that if he stabbed you I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. That whole night, like I said, I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to even think about what Hunter could do to you. So what I'm basically really trying to say.."  
  
"You love me?" she questioned. He smirked. "Sorry, but the speech was getting a bit too long, hun. I got your point 5 minutes ago."  
  
"I wanted to..approach it right." he said, a bit embarrassed to say the least.  
  
"Well, Chris, I always figured you for a jerk but, as crazy as it is, you somehow made yourself attractive enough for me to like you." she teased, kissing him on the cheek. He looked utterly shocked. "Don't be so shocked."  
  
"Guess I don't have too much self-esteem."  
  
"You? Why am I doubting this?" she giggled. He pulled her into a bear hug and she laughed, her ribs not hurting so much as before.  
  
"Uncle! Uncle!" she giggled and he let her go.  
  
"Gees, just gotta use me and my heart.." he said, feigning hurt. "I'm surprised at you Stephy." She kissed him then, on the lips, their real first kiss.  
  
"Am I using you any more?"  
  
"Ask me when my heart starts beating again..." he said, a bit dazed.  
  
And in the back of her head, she heard Nat telling her how the ones who fight the most cared about each other the most. And she smiled, finally understanding what he meant. 


End file.
